The Theater: New Plays in Manhattan, Feb. 28, 1955

Tonight in Samarkand (by Jacques Deval and Lorenzo Semple Jr.) takes its
theme from the famous Oriental legendabout the inevitability of
fatethat also suggested John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra. The
doom-dodger in this somewhat Oriental tale of French circus life is a
much-besought tamer of tigers (Jan Farrand), who, fearing the future,
gazes into the crystal ball of the magician (Louis Jourdan). In two
flash-forwards, the ball reveals that on her next birthday whether
she marries a juggler or a millionaireshe must perish in a steamship
disaster. Finally, because his own future is the one thing the ball
lacks the power...